Georgia Urban Forest Council

2013 Excellence in Urban Forestry Awards Nominations Open

Annually, as part of its mission to sustain Georgia’s green legacy by helping communities grow healthy trees, GUFC rewards individuals, organizations, businesses, municipalities, and counties for outstanding work in protecting and enhancing our community forests. Outstanding work, whether public or private, is eligible for nomination.  Individuals, non-profit organizations, businesses, municipalities and counties, schools, civic groups, and others are welcomed and encouraged to make nominations. The awards program is open to all who have made a contribution to the urban forest in our communities.  Click here to download an awards nomination form.  This year’s award recipients will be honored on October 24th at the 23rd Annual Excellence in Urban Forestry Awards Luncheon at the Columbus Georgia Convention and Trade Center.  The deadline for submissions is September 6.

Arborist Certification Study Class materials

Thank you to those who attended this past week’s Arborist Certification Study Class, and congratulations on taking the important step of seeking arborist certification.  Here are PowerPoint presentations from the instructors at your class: Certified Arborist Test – introduction, Soils, Diagnosis and Plant Disorders, Tree Assessment and Risk Management, Construction and Trees.  Several other presentations will be added as we receive them.

2013 GUFC Annual Conference Set for October 23 and 24 in Columbus

Columbus Georgia RiverWalk

Get ready for the 23rd Georgia Urban Forest Council Annual Conference and Awards Program October 23 and 24 at the Columbus Georgia Convention and Trade Center, 801 Front Avenue, near the beautiful Columbus Riverwalk.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Tree Canopy and Green Infrastructure:  Creating Vibrant and Healthy Communities.”    At this conference, we will concentrate on furthering our knowledge of green infrastructure, learn of green infrastructure successes in communities, and gain ideas on how to get it done.  And for the first time, we are rolling our college canopy conference into our annual conference, providing a campus

Columbus Georgia Convention and Trade Center

educational track for landscape and tree personnel at colleges and universities.  Guest speakers will include Karen Firehock, Director of the Green Infrastructure Center in Charlottesville, Virginia; Dr. Graeme Lockaby, Center for Forest Sustainability, Auburn University; Mike Beezhold, Senior Planner, CDM Smith, and former Watershed Manager, Lenexa Public Works, Lenexa, KS; and many other noted experts.  Mark Bays, U & CF Coordinator, Oklahoma, will lead us through his journey in saving the Oklahoma “Survivor Tree.”

Columbus, GA Whitewater Rafting

Join us for excellent general session talks, concurrent sessions, roundtable sessions, tours, our annual urban forestry awards luncheon, and our annual ArborJam event that raises funds for the Georgia ReLeaf Program (ticket included in registration).   Click on agenda here for full list of topics, sessions, and speakers.

While you’re in Columbus, you can enjoy a host of cultural and recreational opportunities, including museums,  biking, walking, and even whitewater rafting!

Registration:

• $135 for members (includes ArborJam admission and a $10 donation to Georgia ReLeaf)
• $160 for non-members (includes discounted GUFC membership, ArborJam admission and a $10 donation to Georgia ReLeaf)

For conference lodging information, click here.  ISA Arborist CEUs have been requested.  7 Society of American Foresters CFE hours.  Professional development certificates available for all.

Read the Spring Issue of our Tree Talks Newsletter

This quarter’s issue of Tree Talks features information about new Georgia Tree City USAs, Tree Campus USA schools, Arbor Day Foundation awards, the Camden County historic live oak added to Landmark and Historic Tree Register, and more.  Click here to download a copy or on the image at right.

Community Forest Storm Mitigation Planning
Trees are an important part of our community’s infrastructure. They provide us with many valuable and irreplaceable environmental, economic, and social benefits. But, during a storm, our trees are also at risk and can cause significant damage not only to infrastructure but also to personal property.

Georgia Forestry Commission recently held three workshops in Gainesville, Marietta and Mansfield to help communities develop a personalized Community Forest Storm Mitigation Plan that focuses specifically on trees and ways to avoid or mitigate the damage they cause during a storm or other catastrophic event. Community Forest Storm Mitigation plans serve as a guide for assessing current storm readiness, for creating a summary of your community’s current forest management program and as a storm mitigation checklist. Presentations from the workshops are available and Georgia Forestry Commission staff are available to assist your community.

A Community Forest Storm Mitigation Planning Workbook and Template are available at this link: http://www.gfc.state.ga.us/community-forests/management/trees-storm-safety/

PowerPoint presentations are available here: http://www.gufc.org/resources/presentations/

Please contact the Georgia Forestry Commission Sustainable Community Forestry Program staff if you need any assistance with your plan.

Read the 2013 issue of GUFC’s SHADE magazine, “The Role of Trees in Our Future.”

In this issue:  Planning for the Future for Georgia’s Urban Forest, Sustainability, Trees and Energy Savings, Green Roofs, The Harmonious Co-existence of Trees and Solar Panels, the Outstanding Volunteers of the Coastal Bryan Tree Foundation, an interview with GUFC awards tree artist Barry Nehr, and much more. Click on image at right or here to download your copy.

New e-Learning Program Available

The Office of the Southern Regional Extension Forester, the USDA FS Region 8–Urban and Community Forestry Program along with the Southern Group of State Foresters have partnered to design, develop and implement a state-of-the-art online, distance-learning program geared specifically toward beginning urban foresters and those allied professionals working in and around urban and urbanizing landscapes including service foresters, natural resource planners, landscape architects, city officials, public works employees and others.   Powered by Articulate, an industry standard eLearning authoring tool, the eLearn Urban Forestry is both inexpensive and accessible with key features including Flash-based interactivity, video and professional audio.  Topic areas taught within the program include tree growth and development, urban soils, site and tree selection, planting, arboriculture, assessing and managing tree risk, tree disorder, diagnosis and management, trees and construction, policy, and urban forest management.

To access the modules for International Society of Arboriculture and Society of American Foresters credit, please visit cfegroup.org.

To access the modules for free, please visit elearn.sref.info.

To access the modules for volunteer credit or a certificate of completion, visit campus.extension.org and look for the eLearn Urban Forestry–Citizen Forester course.

For more specific information, please contact Sarah Ashton, Educational Program Coordinator, Southern Regional Extension Forestry at sashton@sref.info.